Taylor Fluck
Introduction
Located at the base of the Allegheny Mountains in Rockbridge County, Virginia, Forest Dhamma Monastery is a Buddhist community whose members dedicate themselves to the Thai Forest Tradition. Forest Dhamma Monastery was founded in 2011 by Ajaan Dick Sīlaratano, who bought 217 acres of forest for the monastery using donations from the public. With the help of various supporters, including donators, monks and laity, Ajaan Dick Sīlaratano built Forest Dhamma Monastery upon his return to the United States, after having left to spend 35 years in Asia (specifically India, Sri Lanka and Thailand). Not long after traveling from India to Sri Lanka, he was introduced to the book Forest Dhamma, written by Ajaan Mahā Boowa Ñānasampanno and translated by Ajaan Paññāvaḍḍho, which contains Ajaan Mahā Boowa’s teachings on Dhamma and meditation. Upon reading Forest Dhamma, Ajaan Dick Sīlaratano relocated from Sri Lanka to Thailand, where he spent 17 years as a monk under Ajaan Mahā Boowa at Baan Taad Forest Monastery before deciding to practice alone in the forests of Thailand. Eventually, he returned to his home state of Virginia to continue Ajaan Mahā Boowa’s lineage through the establishment of Forest Dhamma Monastery, where he currently serves as the Abbot. Today, Forest Dhamma Monastery is an official member of the Dhammayut Order of the United States, and it has attracted a community of monks, nuns, and laypeople, both Asian-American and white, who look to the preservation of the Thai Forest Tradition as a way to embody the Buddha’s teachings and create teachers who will keep the practice of Dhamma alive.
Thai Forest Tradition
The Thai Forest Tradition is a branch of Theravāda Buddhism that traces its origins to Ajaan Mun Bhūridatto. Born in Thailand in the 1870s, Ajaan Mun was a monk who spent many years as a wandering ascetic and as a teacher responsible for the majority of 20th century Thailand’s most esteemed masters of meditation. Exemplifying the Buddha’s practice of seeking isolation in the forest to purify one’s mind and live a simple, austere life, Ajaan Mun spent the entirety of his life as a monk as a solitary practitioner, traveling alone through the wilderness without ever seeking shelter indoors. Eventually, with the rise of modernization, the lifestyle of a forest monk became significantly more difficult to maintain. As a result, experienced teachers such as Ajaan Mahā Boowa began to establish monasteries such as Baan Taad Forest Monastery in the mid-20th century, seeking to preserve Ajaan Mun’s lineage despite the difficulties that industrialization presented to his wandering lifestyle. Because of the efforts of these teachers, the Thai Forest Tradition has remained an active part of Thailand’s greater Theravāda tradition. Theravāda, or “Doctrine of the Elders,” is a Buddhist tradition that originated in India, later spreading to Sri Lanka and then to Thailand, that emphasizes the practice of meditation and aims to align strictly with the Buddha’s teachings on monasticism as a path to enlightenment, and according to Forest Dhamma Monastery, the Thai Forest Tradition is the branch of Theravāda Buddhism that best achieves that goal. While some Theravāda practitioners embark on their monastic paths as students in village temples, practitioners such as those of the Thai Forest Tradition choose instead to become forest dwellers, looking to meditation and isolation in nature as a way to achieve enlightenment, as did the Buddha. Founded directly on the teachings of Ajaan Mahā Boowa, and tracing its lineage directly to him, Forest Dhamma Monastery aims to carry on the Thai Forest Tradition as authentically as possible in the United States.
Forest Dhamma Books
Forest Dhamma Books is a project that originated in Thailand in 1999, and for many years, it has published books presenting Ajaan Mahā Boowa’s teachings on Dhamma in the English language. The monks, nuns, and laypeople of Forest Dhamma Books do the majority of the work to translate and format these books, and all of these books can be accessed freely, without any need for payment, as their printing is funded by donations from the public. Because of the volunteer work done by the Forest Dhamma community to translate and publish these books, the teachings of Ajaan Mahā Boowa on the Thai Forest Tradition are able to live on in the United States. The following is an excerpt from Forest Dhamma, the book that eventually led to the establishment of Forest Dhamma Monastery:
Listening to Dhamma is necessary for all of us who are Buddhists because
Dhamma is full of reason. Whoever behaves and acts either in the way of the
world or in Dhamma, it is Dhamma that points out the way in both cases. Those
who go the way of the world are likely to need it as a method or the skilful ways
that they use in conducting their affairs so that they shall be right and harmonious
for themselves. As for those who practise the way of Dhamma it will make for convenience, ease and the avoidance of making mistakes. Because in doing anything,
if we do not listen attentively, so that we do not understand and know the method
to begin with, and act without having learnt about it, whether in the world or in
Dhamma, we are liable to make mistakes easily, and even if we get results they will
not be worthwhile. (p. 73)
The term Dhamma (alternatively spelled Dharma) is difficult to translate directly to English, but essentially, it refers to the true nature of the universe, as revealed to the Buddha through enlightenment and explained by the Buddha to his disciples through his teachings, such as that of the Four Noble Truths. At Forest Dhamma Monastery, members of the community seek to practice the way of Dhamma through their preservation of the Thai Forest Tradition, thereby continuing the legacy of the Buddha.
Relationship with the Public
In addition to providing free access to Ajaan Mahā Boowa’s teachings through Forest Dhamma Books, Forest Dhamma Monastery allows those interested in monastic life to visit and to practice alongside monks, no matter how new to Buddhism they are, despite being a community whose members typically are committed deeply to the rigor of the Thai Forest Tradition. Guests who are visiting the monastery for the first time are allowed to stay for a maximum of two weeks, and after that, they can request a longer stay for their next visit, if they so choose. Forest Dhamma Monastery simply asks that guests take part in the events outlined in the monastery’s daily schedule and abide by the Eight Precepts outlined for laity in the monastic code. Though the mission of Forest Dhamma Monastery is more monastic than egalitarian, as far as American Buddhist communities are concerned, they ensure that their community and their resources are accessible to all who are interested in the Thai Forest Tradition of Theravāda Buddhism.
References
“About – Ajaan Dick Sīlaratano.” Forest Dhamma, https://forestdhamma.org/about/ajaan-dick-silaratano/.
“About – Forest Dhamma Books.” Forest Dhamma, https://forestdhamma.org/about/forest-dhamma-books/.
“About – Thai Forest Tradition.” Forest Dhamma, https://forestdhamma.org/about/thai-forest-tradition/.
“About – The Monastery.” Forest Dhamma, https://forestdhamma.org/about/monastery/.
Ajaan Mahā Boowa Ñānasampanno. Forest Dhamma, translated by Ajaan Paññāvaḍḍho, e-book, Forest Dhamma Books.
“Visit.” Forest Dhamma, https://forestdhamma.org/visit/.